One autumn evening, Thierry (Marc Paquet), a young man from the Gaspé now studying in Montreal, and his Haitian roommate and best friend Henri (Frédéric Pierre) decide to hire a pair of prostitutes to celebrate Thierry=s birthday. The fun comes to an abrupt end when the frail, red-headed prostitute nearly succeeds in cutting Henri=s throat. A few months later, Thierry falls hopelessly in love with another beautiful redhead, Claire, and gradually lets her take control of his life. Everything begins to seem very bizarre: the young woman=s sexual appetite, her mysterious illness, her strange family – all redheads. Henri begins asking questions, forcing Thierry to discover the family=s dark and deadly secret.
Shot on HD in twenty-two days for a budget of $800,000, La Peau blanche is a fresh, genre-bending film, mixing elements of science fiction, romance and fantasy. With nods to David Cronenberg – excerpts from Rabid (1977) are cleverly utilized – and such Roman Polanski classics as Rosemary=s Baby (1968), director Daniel Roby’s situations, dialogue and characters inhabit a real world gone terrifyingly askew.
La Peau blanche is a strikingly assured feature debut that uses atmosphere and suggestion to intrigue and terrify throughout. It received the award for Best Canadian First Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival® and was named one of Canada=s Top Ten of 2004 by an independent, national panel of filmmakers, programmers, journalists and industry professionals.
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